Hanabusa Cafe is a Japanese souffle pancake house located in Kensington Market. They are located next door to Dirty Bird Chicken & Waffles.
They are the first to offer the Japanese souffle pancake in Toronto. Japanese souffle pancakes are more airy, lighter and fluffier than your traditional pancake.
I went on a recent Saturday afternoon after seeing some pictures of the Japanese souffle pancakes online. You order the souffle pancakes at the cashier, you are given a number and they bring the order to your table. The whole process of waiting in line until we were seated and receiving our souffle pancakes took about 45-50 minutes. We ordered the matcha pancake ($14.99 plus tax) which consisted of premium Kyoto matcha sauce, sweet azuki bean, strawberry, blueberry, whipping cream and caramel syrup over 3 souffle pancakes.
The souffle pancakes were beautifully presented, definitely instagram worthy, nice light and fluffy. Really nicely flavoured even though the inside was a little bit soggy and seemed to be a bit undercooked inside.
Hanabusa Cafe has a really cool and interesting product and is a great addition to Kensington Market. It's definitely priced at the higher end point of the pancake market in Toronto but it's an item worth trying but be prepared for long lineups especially on the weekends and as the weather gets warmer.